One Day Off
by JJWalker
Summary: One shot. Taking a day off is hard for Paul. But he had to today of all days. Some OOC


**Just a random one-shot I threw up. I felt it was appropriate given situation and the fact that I had this idea in my head for a while. Don't think anything of it. Enjoy.**

**There is a little hint of shippings as well. Nothing over the top or cheesy, just a little hint. You'll know them when you see them.**

**I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

When Paul travelled, he had a strict schedule. Train and travel. Train and travel. Train and travel. When he keeps by this schedule the days and weeks kind of seem to mesh together to the point where he has no idea what day or month it is. And he didn't care. He looked at those as unimportant in the grand scheme of things as it only serves as a distraction and limits the progress that he could make per day.

When he was at home, things were similar. At first. For the first few days upon returning home to his brother, he still doesn't know what day it is and it takes a while for him to get used to the whole idea of days and nights, seeing as he'll travel until he is tired regardless of time. But eventually he will get into the routine of getting up in the morning, helping his brother out all day, then going to bed at night, all the while planning on what he was doing next.

Paul had just finished another trip around Kanto, topped off by a 48 hour non-stop hike from Oreburgh City back to his native Veilstone City. Needless to say, the moment he walked through the door to his and Reggie's house he quickly let his Pokémon out for some rest, said a few words to Reggie and quickly found his bed.

* * *

He woke up sometime later, once again not knowing what day or time it was. He looked around to see that there was some light entering the room. He assumed that it was the morning or at least the middle of the afternoon. He didn't feel tired so he could only gathered that he had a full night's sleep. He casually walked over to his bathroom and had a look at his reflection for the first time in a while. He was shocked at how he had changed. His hair had grown now sitting past his shoulder, stopping at the middle of his back. His face had shown the beginnings of a beard. The only similarity was the permanent scowl that lived on his face.

"This won't do" He said.

Looking around the bathroom he quickly found Reggie's razor and removed the facial hair from his face. Taking the scissors adjacent, he quickly began snipping away of his overgrown hair and sooner rather than later it was back down to its normal size.

"Much better" he said with a slight grin forming across his face. He went toward the bathroom door but saw bits of purple hair on the ground. After some internal fighting he groaned and cleaned up his hair to avoid letting his brother do all the work and moaning at him later.

Paul then made his way downstairs to throw away the end of his hair. Almost as soon as his feet hit the ground he immediately saw the smiling face of his bigger brother.

"I thought you'd never wake up" Reggie said, pulling his brother into a hug. A hug that Paul did not like to receive

"Get off of me." Paul said, I typical Paul fashion. As Reggie let go, he managed to ask a question, "How long was I sleeping? What time is it?"

"It's about 3pm now and you've been sleeping for well over a day. You missed all yesterday"

"That's what a 48 hour nonstop walk does." Paul managed to laugh "Do you need help with your Pokémon today?"

"No, not today"

"Then I'm going to take Hariyama for a short training day. Be back later. Don't wait up but leave food"

"You won't be going anywhere today" Reggie said sternly.

"And why is that?"

"Don't you know what day it is?"

"Tuesday?"

"Not the day, but the reason why today is special"

"Reggie, just spit it out. I hate these guessing games"

"It's your birthday, you idiot" Reggie laughed.

Paul was shocked, with all the training and the days just become a cycle of days and nights, he had forgotten that today is his birthday. He never really made a big deal on his birthday, but he would always remember when it was so he could call his brother. So you can imagine the revelation that today was in fact his birthday and he did not know would have caught him off guard. Maybe his training style was not the best way to live his life.

"Well, that was unexpected. Fine. The ball is in your court Reggie. What are we doing?"

"Well it won't be just us, I invited some people over"

"Reggie, No. Bad idea"

"Give me one good reason to explain why, Paul"

Paul instantly face-palmed. He was thinking that his brother is messing with him or that he was a total idiot. Either way he gave Reggie an answer.

"I hate people. The only person that I can tolerate is you." _And there have been times where I have wanted to strangle you, _Paul thought to himself.

Reggie laughed, making it abundantly clear to Paul that he was messing with him. "I'm sorry Paul, but I have already invited some people"

There was a knock on the door, followed be a ringing of a door bell.

Reggie continued "Ok that would be a guest. Go throw away your hair and be nice. And Paul, next time get a professional to cut your hair. You look like an idiot"

Whilst Paul threw away a bag full of his hair, Reggie had walked towards the door, with a smile on his face. He opened the door to see a teenage girl with bright pink hair on the other side. She was wearing a blue and black vest accompanied by blue and pink gloves and white bottoms. She had bandages all across her arms and one across her forehead but what was most telling was the fact that she was sporting a black eye.

"Rough training day Maylene?" Reggie said, laughing as well as a little bit shocked at the sight of her eye.

"Meh, I'll manage" she replied with a smile

"How did that happen?"

"Trying to stop a fight between Machamp and Lucario. Can I come in or are you just going to leave a pretty girl standing here?" Maylene tried to wink but she could only wink with one eye and that eye so happened to have a grapefruit size bruise around it. So for a few seconds Maylene and Reggie were just looking at each other in silence.

"…yes, come on in." Reggie laughed again, rubbing the back of his head.

Maylene casually walked into the house, walking past a confused Reggie, past the living room and into the kitchen, were the birthday boy was desperately looking for some food, to no avail. Maylene didn't say a word until he turned around and was looking at her. Before she got the chance to say 'Happy Birthday', the purple haired trainer started laughing. Uncontrollably. He was laughing so hard and so loud, that it got the attention of Reggie and now both the Pokémon Breeder and the Gym Leader were watching the trainer laughing.

"Does he ever laugh like this?" The Gym Leader said towards the breeder.

"Once a year" was his response

The two didn't take their eyes off of Paul, who had still been laughing for what seemed like forever. But all good things come to an end and Paul eventually began to stop. After a while he returned to his normal state and walked out of the kitchen like nothing had happened.

"What just happened?" Maylene said, turning her attention to Reggie

"I have no idea" Reggie said, staring at where Paul once was standing.

* * *

A few hours had passed. The guest count had risen from 3 to 6. Joining the party was the Nurse Joy from the town, who had befriended both Paul and Reggie over the years. Joining them was Professor Rowan, who Paul had gone out of his way to show tremendous respect to and in turn received high amounts of praise and respect for his abilities and Pokémon, even though the way he treated his Pokémon was something that he often disapproved of. Alongside him was a Pokémon League Trainer. It was the Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia. She had become close friends with Reggie and whenever the chance arose, she would visit him. And Reggie made her promise that she would show up for his brother's birthday although it was a time where she needed to mandatory paperwork for the Pokémon League, one of the drawbacks of being a champion. Also whenever she was around Paul, he would challenge her to a battle. No matter how hard she would try to avoid it, she would accept and she would annihilate Paul and the surrounding area, much to Paul's annoyance. Both Cynthia and Paul agreed to battle at later date as both Paul and Reggie didn't fancy watching their house get destroyed. Not to mention all the Pokémon that Reggie was caring for at the time.

"Reggie, is there anyone else that will be coming, or are we set?" Paul asked his brother.

"3 more people said that they would be coming"

The doorbell rings

"That could be them" Reggie said, making his way to the door.

"I'll get it, get some food and make some space" Paul said.

Paul walked over to the front door and opened the door, to see a familiar face right in front of him. Behind them were two more people who were still making their way up the path. Either the two behind were really slow or the one in front was in some sort of a rush.

Taking a step back, Paul got a better look at the man in front of him. He was a dark skinned man, with squinty eyes. He was notably taller than Paul and was wearing a green shirt with an orange and black vest over it. He was wearing grey bottoms and blue sneakers.

"I smell women" were his words to Paul before immediately darting in front of one of the guests and taking her by the hand.

"Nurse Joy, my love for you burns as hot as a Moltres Flameth-"

Brock's face turned a slight purple as he keeled over clutching his stomach for dear life. Nurse Joy, Reggie, Paul, Professor Rowan and Maylene all looked at the fallen Brock whilst he slowly turned his head towards his Croagunk.

"Why can't you let me be happy?" Brock said weakly, as Professor Rowan started to laugh.

Whilst Paul tried to gather his thoughts of what exactly just happened, two more people were standing behind him. Paul already knew who they were, before he had turned around to officially greet them.

"I wouldn't expect to see you two here, as well as Casanova over there" Paul said, with a small smirk forming across his face.

Obviously the two people that he was talking to were Brock's travelling buddies, Ash and Dawn. Ash was wearing his jacket, shirt, jeans and sneakers combo, the same one that he had been wearing his entire time during his travel in the Sinnoh region. His hat was different however. His hat that he wore through Sinnoh, which is usually Red, Black and Blue, was not there. This time his hat was white with a little bit of blue and red. Dawn was also wearing the exact same clothes that she was wearing throughout Sinnoh, but she was wearing her winter coat over her dress. Paul didn't really care for the fact, as he had managed to catch a glance at them holding hands shortly before the tow of them had released their hands from each other's grip.

"Happy Birthday Paul" Dawn said, pulling Paul into a hug. A hug that he didn't want to be in. A hug that he didn't return.

"Ash, get her off me" Paul said with a degree of certainty

Ash just laughed and gently tugged Dawn, leading for her to release Paul.

"She's just an affectionate person, Paul. I found that out first hand" Ash laughed turning towards Dawn.

"If that's the case then there won't be any _affection _for you for a while" Dawn said, putting her hands on her hips.

It got a little quiet before Dawn said what she had said and everyone heard that comment and what she actually meant, they all stared at her. She obviously was a little embarrassed and blushed like crazy. Ash just laughed, as he walked over towards Brock, who was still clutching his stomach on the ground.

'_So he finally shacked up with his cheerleader then. Good for them I suppose" _Paul thought to himself.

* * *

After a few hours of conversation between the guests and hosts, it was time to open presents. This was the part that Paul dreaded the most. This made him horribly uncomfortable. With exception of battles, he liked to know what was coming up next. He had absolutely no control at this point and with people watching and documenting his moves, for the purpose of mocking him at a later date made him absolutely hate the situation that he was in. He was in the kitchen, sitting down at the dinner table that he and Reggie rarely use, with everyone else standing around him. He tentatively grabbed a package with a purple bow.

"That one is from me, Paul" Nurse Joy said.

Paul carefully unravelled the gift, just in case he ruined the gift in any way, shape or form. He opened it to unravel a purple sweatshirt, reminiscent to the shade of purple on his jacket as well as his hair.

"The thread count is very high; it should prove to be very warm for when you are travelling during the winter"

"Thank you" Paul said nodding his head.

"Open mine, open mine!" said Dawn, way to excitedly.

Paul turned to Ash "Seriously, how do you calm her down"

Ash was about to say something but he laughed before he got the chance to say anything. One can only assume he was about to say something dirty.

Nevertheless, Paul reached for the package Dawn had been carrying in her bag and opened it. In the package there was a small box. He opened the box and in it were a bunch of cards. Everyone with the exception of Dawn had no idea what to make of the gift, while Dawn was smiling in Paul's direction.

"Read what's on the cards" Dawn said, excitedly

"I'm a little scared to." Paul replied.

"Paul…." Reggie said, giving his brother a stern look

"Fine" Paul picked up a card "One massage for Pokémon and trainer"

"I massage the Pokémon and Ash massages the trainer"

Everyone but Brock (who had unfortunately experienced this first hand) looked towards Ash.

"I'll be gentle" Ash said, looking at Paul.

"Read another one" Dawn said.

Paul looked at the next card, "One hug". As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, Paul quickly found himself being embraced by Dawn. He once again didn't appreciate this.

"_This girl is touchy" _Paul thought

"Open mine next" Ash said "Get off of him Dawn"

As Dawn finally released Paul from what Paul believed to be a death grip, he picked up a blue package, which was the thinnest one of the lot. He already knew what it was and he was right.

The gift was a picture taken from far away. It was the closing moment of a match from the Lily of the Valley conference. In the picture were four figures. Two humans, two Pokémon. The humans were Ash and Paul. The Pokémon were an Infernape standing and an Electivire face down spread eagle. It was Ash's attempt of embarrassing Paul. Paul looked up at Ash.

"I hate you"

"I know"

"My gift" Brock spoke up. "My gift is to teach you how you how to get a girlfriend"

Everyone but Paul laughed.

"_This is hell"_

* * *

Hours later and the party was drawing to a close. Nurse Joy and Maylene had left and went back to the Pokémon Centre and Veilstone Gym, respectively. Brock and Rowan were in the kitchen talking. Reggie was in the living room and had a sleeping Cynthia on his lap. Ash and Dawn were also in the living room, in their own conversation. And Paul was outside, with his Weavile and Honchkrow. He wasn't happy.

"You aren't having a good time are you?" said a recognisable voice.

"Not really" Paul said "What do you want Ash?"

"To come inside and talk to someone. I know you aren't a welcoming person and you keep a lot of people at arm's length and no one can try and change that. But you need to try and make an effort today. Because it's not all about you"

"Who else is it about?"

"It's about Reggie too. For all we know he is the only family you have. You don't realise this but he is always worried about you. He had organised this party for weeks and for the longest of time he thought you weren't going to show up. You barely ever talk to him when you are travelling which is understandable. And for the longest time, he has been like a father figure to you, the same way Brock was to his brothers and sisters when their parents weren't around. This day wasn't about celebrating you coming out of your mother's birth canal. It was to show the love that the bigger brother has always shown towards the little brother. But you haven't noticed have you"

Paul remained silent.

"Almost as dense as I am with girls. Or was. Nevertheless, Paul, no matter what through thick and thin, Reggie had been there for you. And this was just another way of showing it"

Paul still remained silent.

"I'm going to take Brock and Dawn back of the Pokémon Centre so I am going to leave. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to battle. Goodbye"

Ash turned around and walked back into the house. Paul remained silent.

* * *

It was midnight. Ash, Brock, Rowan and Dawn had left. Cynthia was still asleep on the sofa. Paul and Reggie were clearing up in silence.

"So" Reggie started "Did you have a good time today"

Paul thought about what Ash said for a moment, he felt a bit guilty.

"No"

Reggie although a little disappointed laughed it off "I shouldn't be surprised, I only wanted to do something nice for you" Reggie smiled.

The two went back to cleaning. Paul stopped suddenly.

"Reggie"

"Yeah"

"Thanks. Not just for the party. For everything. Thanks for taking care of me and teaching me everything I knew about Pokémon. Thanks for putting up with me and the way I treat people and justifying how I treat others to people. And thanks for being more of a dad to me, than our dad to us"

Reggie was shocked, speechless. He never thought he would hear these words would ever come out of his mouth.

"A-anytime" he managed to say

Paul walked over to his brother, a tear starting to fall down his cheek. He immediately pulled his brother into an embrace.

"I love you big brother"

"I love you too little man"

* * *

**Ok so there we are. I think this is the largest chapter I have ever written for anything. I was planning to release this on my birthday but after reading this I really wanted to put this up. Don't look too much into this I just had the idea in my head and wanted to jot it down.**

**I hope you liked it.**

**Later.**

**Walker**


End file.
